The Dimensions Facilitation Community

Krissy Roth

Krissy Roth is a native Northern Virginian, acting as a Field Organizer in Virginia’s 2014 election cycle, focusing on a congressional race and local races. Most recently she was the Washington Representative and Deputy Director of Domestic Policy at the Jewish Council for Public Affairs focusing on issues including criminal justice, civil rights, individual liberties, and equal opportunity policy. She came to JCPA with other nonprofit experience serving at organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, and the Leadership Conference for Civil and Human Rights. She holds a Bachelors degree in Communications Management and Design and a minor in Politics from Ithaca College. Krissy is a proud carrier of the “woman card” preferred gender pronouns She/Her/Hers.

Jason Daniel Fair

Jason Daniel Fair proudly serves as the voice of and liaison to Trevor’s generous major donors and individual supporters. Specifically, his charges are to lead individual, planned, and annual fund giving programs, online donation marketing and direct response monthly appeals, and member cultivation events, as well as to secure new major donors and deepen relationships with existing members through face-to-face engagement. Jason stewards a direct portfolio of 225 top donors and serves as the top point of contact for 1,500+ generous members. In achieving these goals, Jason helps incredibly kind people understand and envision the impact that their philanthropy can have on the lives of LGBTQ youth in crisis. Jason is the former Executive Director of the Congressman Elijah Cummings Youth Program to Israel where he stewarded a board of 24 African-American and Jewish local leaders in the daily and strategic planning of this flagship two-year, 100% free educational fellowship and trip to Israel.

Dena Robinson

Dena Robinson is a recent lawyer who focuses on the intersection of the law and social determinants of health including race, poverty, and trauma. She comes from a background in racial justice, youth, and sexual assault prevention organizing. Together, Dena has nine years of community organizing experience and, on the side, enjoys doing racial justice consulting work.

Courtney Parker

Courtney Parker West is Director of Alumni Impact - Racial Equity & Values-based Leadership for the Eastern NC region of Teach For America. After teaching for 5 years, she spent the last 4 years as a Manager of Teacher Leadership Development, coaching and designing professional development through an anti-oppression liberatory consciousness lens. She is a Diversity, Equity, & Inclusiveness and Values-based Leadership practitioner, consultant, and sits on the boards for Raleigh Organizing Against Racism, Bull City Schools United, #SaySomething, and sits on a community council for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic - Wake County. Parker West and her partner, also a public school educator and current school leader in Wake County, are both community organizers, advocates for equity, and lovers of travel and wine. They live in Raleigh. Parker West is also a writer whose work has been published in the Huffington Post, Catalogue, and Quartz.

Rakel Joseph

Nakita Rakel Joseph attributes her start in social justice to her parents. Rakel’s parents wanted Torah to be more than archaic words but rather a charge for social justice action with a focus on vulnerable populations. This charge has never left Rakel. Rakel began working with Jews for Racial & Economic Justice after noticing JFREJ’s hand in rabbis boldly working alongside police brutality protesters, and has not regretted being a part of JFREJ since. Rakel also enjoys working with the Jewish Multicultural Network. Most recently, Rakel completed her Master’s degree from Columbia University School of Social Work, with a concentration in Policy. Her Master’s thesis is titled “How Does Structural Racism Impact Black Immigrants?” Currently, she works as a research assistant on different research projects on issues such as: racism’s impact on health, global trauma, HIV interventions, and HIV and trauma. Rakel is excited to have the opportunity to merge faith and advocacy, and looks forward to learning and growing.

Suzanne Feinspan

Suzanne Feinspan www.suzannefeinspanconsulting.com is an independent consultant specializing in facilitation, organizational development and strategy. She is a highly experienced trainer on racial justice within Jewish contexts, having specialized in this area for over a decade. Suzanne’s approach to issues of racial justice uniquely blends an understanding of how Jewish wisdom can inform our understanding of racism, expertise in the dynamics of implicit bias, and awareness of the intersections of racism and anti-Semitism. When facilitating groups on issues of racial justice, Suzanne plays the role of “compassionate catalyst” - challenging participants to deepen their understanding while ensuring that they feel valued and supported. She brings over 15 years of experience in the nonprofit social change sector to her consulting practice supporting individuals and organizations in doing their most effective work. During her eight years working for AVODAH, she served within all levels and functions of the organization, including serving as the Acting Executive Director for 8 months during the organization's executive transition in 2014. Suzanne was selected for the inaugural cohort of the Schusterman Fellowship, a prestigious fellowship focused on strengthening the leadership skills high-potential leaders in the Jewish community. Suzanne also recently completed a graduate certificate in facilitation through Georgetown University. Suzanne has written extensively on issues of racial justice, poverty and service learning and had writing published by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Zeek, Kveller, eJewishPhilanthropy, and Raising Race Conscious Children.

M. Dove Kent

M. Dove Kent has over 15 years of experience in grassroots organizing, political education, and movement building. As the outgoing executive director of Jews for Racial & Economic Justice (2011 through 2016), Dove supported the organization to triple in size and win game-changing legislative victories for police accountability and worker’s rights through powerful local coalitions. Under Dove’s tenure, JFREJ grew into one of the strongest and most effective progressive Jewish organizations in the country, creating significant culture shifts within the Jewish community, New York and nationally. She has been published in What We Do Now: Standing Up for Your Values in Trump’s America (2017), Towards the “Other America”: Anti-racist Resources for White People Taking Action for Black Lives Matter (2015), in the Guardian, Ha'aretz, Tikkun, and the Forward, among many other media outlets. Dove teaches throughout the country on the intersections of anti-Semitism and racism, historical trauma, and the roles of Jews in the movement for justice. She has led trainings for JSJR members National Council of Jewish Women, Bend the Arc, Repair the World, Jews for Racial & Economic Justice, JOIN for Justice, and New Israel Fund, and T’ruah.

Mirriam Messinger, Strategy Development Officer, Interaction Institute for Social Change

Miriam has devoted much of her professional life to working to ensure that communities are healthy – with resources, a sense of connectedness, and engaged residents driving community development. Miriam works at Interaction Institute for Social Change where she supports strategy and consults with organizations focused on health equity and network development. Prior, she served as an independent consultant helping foundations and other non‐profits work towards realization of their visions by addressing challenges with attention to passion, excellence, and stakeholder inclusion. Her early work was focused on youth leadership and community engagement. Miriam loved the work she did mentoring, learning, and building organizational capacity as executive director of The City School, a youth and social justice organization. Her professional experience also includes organizational change, research and capacity building on issues of youth, public health and workplace health. Woven throughout is a deep commitment to including multiple voices, authentic and collaborative leadership and structures that help us to live our values. Outside of work, Miriam is engaged with building ritual and community. She is leading the work of diversity and equity at her synagogue, Hillel Bnai Torah in Boston. Miriam believes deeply in humanity’s ability to envision and create more equitable and loving ways of living together. She lives in Boston. She devotes as much love and energy as she possibly can to her two children and tries to parent in ways that bring more goodness into the world.